The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) expresses worry for death of the Egyptian Citizen Ezzat Hakin Atallah under torture in detention in Libya. The Egyptian citizen was accused of entering Libya illegally and Christian preaching.

In February 2013, the Libyan police arrested about 100 Egyptian Christians in Benghazi City and charged them with illegal entrance to the Libyan territories. All the detainees were released except for 5 people including Ezzat.

Mr. Hafez Abu Seada, the head of EOHR, stated that what happened to the Egyptian citizen is a serious violation of human rights, namely the right to life, liberty and personal security, which are guaranteed by international covenants on human rights, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which in Article III provides that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and personal security ” as well as the International Covenant on civil and political rights, which in the sixth article states that” the right to life of every human being is basic right, and the law should protect this right and no one shall be deprived of his life arbitrarily.” As pointed out by the Committee on Civil and Political Rights of the United Nations in its general comment on the text of the previous article that the right to life is the supreme right that cannot be denied; it is permitted even in times of public emergency. The same provisions exist in both the Egyptian and Libyan laws.

In this regard, EOHR calls upon the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to urge the Libyan government to take the suitable legal actions for investigating the Ezzat’s death incident and taking the perpetrators to accountability. At least one representative of the Egyptian Prosecutor General should attend the investigations on the incident to guarantee fair trial of the murderers according to the international standards of human rights.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 12th, 2013 at 4:25 pm
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